The New Neighbors

I allowed their lack of knowledge about the history of the community to bother me

I had watched the construction of their home from the window of my lake house over the course of three years. It was a beautiful home three doors down from ours on the lake. We completed construction of our place in 2001 when our kids were two and four years old. We enjoyed it as a family until my husband wanted to separate and moved into the lake house in 2015. Thus ended our time as a family there.

I introduced myself to the new neighbors from my kayak in 2016. I let them know I was Dirk’s wife as they had already met my husband. They were a bit older than us. Their new place was their retirement home. I was anxious to see the inside of the place but had no real relationship or contact with the new neighbors. My husband had socialized with them with his girlfriend. I had a few short conversations with them from our dock as they passed on a paddle board or kayak. They met my boyfriend when we attended a property owner’s association meeting together last summer. My husband had given me their cell phone number once when I planned to be at the lake alone as emergency contacts.

I texted them this past weekend asking for their shipping address for a friend who had done a painting of their home and wanted to send it. I took the…